CLASS OF 2006
Eric Brown led KRVN and the nation’s only farmer-rancher-owned radio group in America for over 30 years. Taking over the KRVN management position left by his retiring father, he brought an impressive background of experience and education in journalism to continue the tradition begun by Max Brown.
Eric began his broadcasting career in 1962 as a part-time announcer at KRVN, the Nebraska Rural Radio Association station that his father had put on the air in 1951.
He graduated from the School of Journalism at the University of Nebraska in 1967. After earning his master’s at the University of Missouri, he taught at South Dakota State University. In 1975, he earned a Ph.D. in broadcasting from Ohio University and returned to South Dakota State as director of Educational Media and manager of the school’s KESD FM/TV.
Eric returned to Lexington in 1979 taking over as general manager when his father retired from the position.
Under Eric’s leadership, the Nebraska Rural Radio Association expanded its reach. In 1984 with the purchase of KNEB AM/FM in Scottsbluff and in 1996 adding KTIC AM/KWPN FM in West Point, the Nebraska Rural Radio Network was formed.
Eric served on more than two dozen statewide boards in addition to serving two terms on the board of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and was elected president in 1984. For seven years, Eric served as the national legislative liaison for the NBA. One of his accomplishments was helping start the Governor’s call-in program with Bob Kerry.
Eric retired in 2012 as General Manager of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association but remains active with its Foundation. He and his wife Ruth reside in Lincoln.
